GAZA CITY, Palestine: At least 154 Palestinians, including 89 children, have died from starvation and malnutrition since the start of Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, the Palestinian territory’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
In a statement via Telegram, the ministry confirmed that seven more deaths were recorded in hospitals across Gaza due to famine-related conditions.
The figures underscore the deepening humanitarian catastrophe in the besieged Palestinian territory, where aid remains scarce and access to essentials is severely restricted.
Over the past 24 hours, at least 103 Palestinians were killed and 399 injured in Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip, the ministry said.
Among the dead were 60 individuals seeking humanitarian aid. A total of 22 people, including 15 aid seekers, were killed since dawn on Wednesday. One additional body was retrieved from the rubble of earlier attacks, the ministry said.
Gaza death toll soars to 60,138
Since Israel launched its offensive on October 7, 2023, the death toll in Gaza has reached 60,138, with 146,269 others wounded, the ministry reported.
The number of Palestinians killed while seeking aid has also climbed significantly. Since May 27, when Israel introduced a revised aid distribution mechanism, at least 1,239 people have been killed, and more than 8,152 have been injured while attempting to collect food or supplies, according to the Health Ministry.
The Gaza Government Media Office criticised the volume of aid reaching the territory, calling it insufficient to sustain the population for even a single day.
Humanitarian aid
Over the past four days, only 269 trucks have entered Gaza, most of which were looted by desperate residents, the office said.
“Looting is no longer shocking; it is the predictable consequence of prolonged starvation,” it added.
The United Nations estimates that Gaza needs at least 500 to 600 aid trucks daily to meet basic needs through 400 distribution centres across the territory.
However, the flow of aid remains severely limited due to restrictions and logistical hurdles.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) also sounded the alarm, stating that access to clean water in Gaza remains a daily challenge.
“Children stand in long queues under the scorching sun to collect water. The crisis is deepening, and the world remains silent,” UNRWA wrote on social media platform X.
In #Gaza, getting clean water remains a daily challenge.
Children wait in long lines under the sun.
The crisis is deepening, while the world watches in silence. pic.twitter.com/MgRXUsvVC4
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) July 30, 2025
Adnan Abu Hasna, spokesperson for UNRWA, told Al Jazeera Arabic that the famine in Gaza is a man-made disaster.
“We demand secure humanitarian corridors. Israel must provide safe routes for aid delivery,” he said, adding that UNRWA is ready to operate 400 aid distribution points if conditions allow.
‘Full-scale famine’
A joint alert issued by the World Food Programme (WFP), UNICEF, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned that Gaza is “on the brink of full-scale famine”.
WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain said, “We need to flood Gaza with large-scale food aid immediately and without obstruction, and keep it flowing daily to prevent mass starvation.”
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a global hunger monitoring body, said on Tuesday that the worst-case scenario of famine is “currently playing out” in Gaza.
It warned of rising hunger-related deaths and confirmed that it would soon conduct an analysis to potentially classify Gaza as officially in famine.
Meanwhile, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reported an “unprecedented surge” in deaths among Gaza’s elderly.
Dozens of elderly people have died in displacement camps due to hunger and lack of treatment, it said. Many of these deaths were recorded as “natural causes” due to the absence of formal reporting systems.
Approximately 1,200 elderly Palestinians have died in #Gaza over the past two months due to Israel’s starvation policy, malnutrition, and lack of medical care, all of which have intensified in recent days.
The actual death toll may be significantly higher, noting an… pic.twitter.com/tQHCeUEfuh
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) July 30, 2025
Meanwhile, the United States is dispatching special envoy Steve Witkoff to Israel to discuss the humanitarian situation, Axios reported, citing American officials.
In Pakistan, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered the dispatch of 200 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Palestinians via two chartered cargo planes routed through Jordan and Egypt.
Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, Chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, has been tasked with overseeing the shipments, which will include food and medical supplies.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and NDMA officials will supervise the departures from Islamabad.
Meanwhile, a newly established field hospital operated by the Palestine Red Crescent Society in Gaza City’s al-Saraya area is receiving scores of wounded from the Zikim region, where large crowds have gathered in search of aid.
The international community has also increased diplomatic pressure on Israel.
Calls for recognition of Palestinian State
In a joint declaration from New York, the foreign ministers of 15 Western countries, including France, Australia, Canada, Ireland, and Spain, issued a call to recognise the State of Palestine as part of a renewed push for a two-state solution.
“We express our desire to recognise the State of Palestine and invite others to join us,” said French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on X.
A New York avec 14 autres pays, la France lance un appel collectif : nous exprimons notre volonté de reconnaître l'Etat de Palestine et invitons ceux qui ne l’ont pas encore fait à nous rejoindre. pic.twitter.com/faCYTYwmES
— Jean-Noël Barrot (@jnbarrot) July 30, 2025
Despite these calls, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has urged the reoccupation of Gaza and suggested the return of Israeli settlers to the territory.
“Gaza is an integral part of Israel,” he said at a public event, referencing the 2005 withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers from the Palestinian territory.
Meanwhile, Israeli settlers, under heavy police protection, once again stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem, Al Jazeera reported.
